"This time, we don't look for it."
Han Seo-yeon turned toward Kang Ji-hoon.
"What?"
"We don't search for the bomb," he said calmly. "We leave the train."
Her heart skipped.
"Leave?"
"If the explosion is inside the train," he continued, "then distance is survival."
The train was slowing toward the station.
The lights flickered once.
They didn't have much time.
Seo-yeon inhaled sharply.
"How long?"
Ji-hoon checked the digital clock above the cabin door.
"Three minutes."
Her stomach twisted.
Three minutes until death.
Again.
"Okay," she whispered. "We force the doors open."
They moved fast.
Ji-hoon pushed through passengers toward the nearest exit panel.
Seo-yeon followed, heart pounding.
"Everyone listen!" she shouted. "You need to get off at the next stop immediately! Do not stay on this train!"
People stared.
Annoyed.
Confused.
"She's at it again."
"Is she drunk?"
Ji-hoon grabbed the emergency lever beside the door.
It beeped red.
Locked until full stop.
The train slowed further.
Platform coming into view.
Seo-yeon's chest tightened.
The same station.
The same place.
The place where they always died before reaching the next stop.
The train halted.
Doors opened with a mechanical hiss.
"Get off!" Seo-yeon screamed. "Now!"
A few passengers hesitated.
But panic is contagious.
Someone saw the fear in her eyes.
Then someone else started moving.
Within seconds, half the cabin began rushing out.
"Why are they running?"
"Move!"
Seo-yeon grabbed Ji-hoon's sleeve.
"Come!"
They stepped onto the platform.
Fresh air hit her lungs.
Her heart raced wildly.
This was new.
They had never fully stepped off before.
Passengers spilled out behind them.
Confusion spreading.
Station staff looked alarmed.
"What's happening?"
"Why is everyone running?"
Seo-yeon backed away from the train.
Ten steps.
Twenty.
Ji-hoon pulled her farther.
"Keep moving."
Her hands trembled.
Her body felt weak again.
Dizzy.
But she didn't care.
They were off the train.
They did it.
They survived—
The train remained still on the tracks.
Passengers continued exiting.
Nothing exploded.
Seconds passed.
Seo-yeon's eyes filled slowly.
"We did it," she whispered.
Ji-hoon didn't smile.
He was watching the train carefully.
Thirty seconds.
Forty.
A full minute.
No explosion.
Her knees almost gave out in relief.
Then—
A deep metallic sound echoed from underneath the platform.
Ji-hoon's eyes widened slightly.
"Seo-yeon."
She followed his gaze.
Not the train.
The tracks.
The space beneath the station platform.
The vibration began again.
Stronger.
People on the platform looked around nervously.
"What is that?"
The ground trembled violently.
Seo-yeon's breath froze.
"No…"
The explosion didn't come from inside the train.
It came from below the station.
The entire platform lifted for a split second—
And then—
BOOM.
Fire erupted upward through the tracks.
Concrete shattered.
Screams tore through the air.
Passengers who had just stepped off were thrown violently backward.
Metal twisted.
Glass burst.
Seo-yeon felt Ji-hoon shove her down hard.
The shockwave slammed into them.
Heat swallowed everything.
The sky turned orange.
And then—
Darkness.
—
She woke up choking on air.
Coffee.
Perfume.
Cabin C.
Her grip tightened around the metal pole automatically.
Her body felt weaker than before.
Her vision blurred slightly at the edges.
The train slowed.
The lights flickered.
Ji-hoon was already looking at her.
"Sixth loop," he said quietly.
Her voice came out hoarse.
"It's not just the train."
"No."
"It's the station too."
"Yes."
Her pulse thundered.
"They planted multiple bombs."
"Or," he corrected calmly, "one large network."
Her chest tightened painfully.
"So even if we get off…"
"We still die."
The pale man sat peacefully at the far end of the cabin.
Normal.
The child cried again.
The world looked untouched.
But Seo-yeon felt something new.
Hopelessness.
Her fingers trembled.
"How are we supposed to stop something we can't even see?"
Ji-hoon wiped a thin line of blood from beneath his nose again.
He didn't comment on it.
Instead, he said quietly:
"We stop thinking about survival."
She looked at him sharply.
"What?"
"We stop trying to escape," he continued. "We start trying to understand."
The announcement began—
"Attention passengers—"
Seo-yeon swallowed hard.
"Understand what?"
Ji-hoon met her eyes.
"Why it's happening."
The lights flickered.
And for the first time—
Seo-yeon felt it.
This wasn't just an accident.
This wasn't random.
Someone—
Was making this happen.